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When talking about things you "had to", "could", or "wanted to" do in the past, you use the *passato prossimo* of modal verbs (*dovere*, *potere*, *volere*). Because the *passato prossimo* requires an auxiliary (helper) verb, how do you know whether to use *avere* or *essere*?

### Choosing the Auxiliary Verb

The rule is simple: look at the infinitive verb that comes right after the modal. The modal verb will "borrow" whichever auxiliary verb that main action normally uses.

If the main action verb normally takes *avere* (like *cancellare* or *fare*), use *avere* with the modal verb. As usual with *avere*, the past participle of the modal (*dovuto*, *potuto*, *voluto*) ends in **-o**.

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### When the main verb takes "essere"

If the main action verb normally uses *essere* (typically verbs of motion or state of being, like *restare*, *venire*, or *tornare*), you must use *essere* as your auxiliary.

Crucially, whenever you use *essere*, the past participle of the modal verb must change its ending to agree in gender and number with the subject (**-o**, **-a**, **-i**, or **-e**).

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### Reflexive Verbs

When giving an excuse, you might need to use a reflexive verb like *scusarsi* (to apologize). When the reflexive pronoun (*mi*, *ti*, *si*, etc.) is placed *before* the modal verb, you must use *essere*. Just like before, the past participle will agree with the subject.

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### Putting it together

To explain why you had to or couldn't do something, it is helpful to use words like *siccome* (since) to introduce your reason.

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Notice how in longer excuses, you might use both rules in the exact same sentence depending on the verbs you choose:

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Past tense of modal verbs

adjective

adjective/adverb

adverb

conjunction

determiner

interjection

noun

numeral

preposition

pronoun

proper noun

sentence

verb

Subject pronouns and the verb to be (io sono)

Singular definite articles (il, la)

Singular demonstratives (questo, questa)

Basic verbal negation (non)

Yes/No questions

Coordinating conjunctions (e, ma, o)

Regular plurals and definite articles (-i, -e, i, le)

Plural verb to be (noi siamo, voi siete)

Plural demonstratives (questi, queste)

Nouns ending in -e

Special singular articles (lo, l')

The plural article (gli)

Special indefinite articles (uno, un')

Demonstrative adjectives (quello, quella)

Adjective endings (-o, -a, -i, -e)

Expressing quantity (molto, poco, tanto)

The verb to have (ho, hai, ha...)

There is / there are (c'è, ci sono)

The preposition of (di)

Singular possessives (il mio, la mia)

Numbers 1 to 10 (uno, due, tre...)

Numbers 11 to 20 (undici, dodici...)

Numbers 21 to 100 (trenta, quaranta...)

Idiomatic avere (avere fame, avere anni)

Plural possessive adjectives (i miei, le mie)

Possessives with family members (mio padre)

Formal address (dare del Lei)

Present tense of -are verbs (-o, -i, -a)

Question words (chi, cosa, dove)

Present tense of -ere verbs (-o, -i, -e)

Question words (quando, come, perché)

Question word agreement (quanto, quanta, quanti, quante)

Regular -ire verbs

Verbs with -isc- (capisco, capisci, capisce)

Pronouns after prepositions (me, te, lui)

The verb fare (faccio, fai, fa)

The verb andare (vado, vai, va)

The verb stare (sto, stai, sta)

The verb venire (vengo, vieni, viene)

The verb uscire (esco, esci, esce)

Location and destination (a, in)

Origin and movement (da)

Articulated prepositions with a (al, alla)

Articulated prepositions with in (nel, nella)

Articulated prepositions with di and da (del, dal)

Simple prepositions (con, per, su, tra)

Articulated prepositions with su (sul, sulla)

Months of the year

Telling time (sono le...)

Dates (il + number)

Ordinal numbers 1st to 10th (primo, secondo, terzo...)

The verb to want (volere)

The verb can (potere)

The verb must (dovere)

The verb to know (sapere)

Reflexive verbs (mi lavo, ti lavi)

Indirect object pronouns (gli, le, ci...)

Expressing preferences (mi piace)

Plural preferences (mi piacciono)

Comparatives (più... di, meno... di)

The passato prossimo with avere (ho parlato)

Irregular past participles (fatto, letto, preso)

The passato prossimo with essere (sono andato)

Reflexive verbs in the past (mi sono svegliato)

Time adverbs with the past tense (già, mai, ancora)

Third-person direct object pronouns (lo, la, li, le)

First and second-person direct object pronouns (mi, ti, ci, vi)

The four seasons

Prepositions of place (vicino a, davanti a)

Conversational words (beh, allora, davvero)

Indefinite adjectives for some (qualche, alcuni)

Indefinite adjectives for every and all (ogni, tutti)

Indefinite pronouns (qualcosa, qualcuno)

Noun suffixes (-ino, -one)

Adverbs of manner (-mente)

Comparisons of equality (così... come)

The relative superlative (il più)

The absolute superlative (-issimo)

Irregular comparatives (migliore, peggiore)

Present progressive (stare + -ando, -endo)

Imminent actions (stare per)

The locative pronoun (ci)

The partitive pronoun (ne)

Pronoun placement with modal verbs

Impersonal subjects (si)

Prepositions of time (da, per, tra, fra)

Past participle agreement with pronouns

Question	Answer
unfortunately	purtroppo
Unfortunately, last night I had to stay in the office.	Purtroppo, ieri sera sono dovuto restare in ufficio.
the unexpected event	l'imprevisto
I had an unexpected event and I couldn't come.	Ho avuto un imprevisto e non sono potuta venire.
to cancel	cancellare
the reason	il motivo
I had to cancel the flight for this reason.	Ho dovuto cancellare il volo per questo motivo.
Unfortunately we had to cancel our trip.	Purtroppo abbiamo dovuto cancellare il nostro viaggio.
to apologize	scusarsi
Maria had to apologize for the delay.	Maria si è dovuta scusare per il ritardo.
the fault	la colpa
It is not my fault, I couldn't do anything!	Non è colpa mia, non ho potuto fare niente!
to postpone	rimandare
Why did you have to postpone the meeting?	Perché hai dovuto rimandare la riunione?
urgent	urgente
I had to work on an urgent project.	Ho dovuto lavorare a un progetto urgente.
since	siccome
serious	grave
Since the problem is serious, I had to leave immediately.	Siccome il problema è grave, sono dovuto partire subito.
We had to return home early.	Siamo dovuti tornare a casa presto.
I had to apologize for the unexpected event.	Mi sono dovuto scusare per l'imprevisto.
It's my fault, I couldn't call.	È colpa mia, non ho potuto telefonare.
We couldn't postpone the appointment for this reason.	Non abbiamo potuto rimandare l'appuntamento per questo motivo.
Since the problem is serious, I had to go to the hospital.	Siccome il problema è grave, sono dovuto andare all'ospedale.
I could not stay because I had to finish an urgent project.	Non sono potuto restare perché ho dovuto finire un progetto urgente.
the chance; the case (per caso = by chance)	il caso
I met the doctor by chance.	Ho incontrato il dottore per caso.
It is not a serious case.	Non è un caso grave.
to matter (non importa = it doesn't matter)	importare
Sorry, I lost your book! It doesn't matter.	Scusa, ho perso il tuo libro! Non importa.
The price doesn't matter: it is a gift for my wife.	Il prezzo non importa: è un regalo per mia moglie.
to happen (by chance), to come up	capitare
Unfortunately, unexpected events happen.	Purtroppo gli imprevisti capitano.
These things happen: it is not your fault.	Queste cose capitano: non è colpa tua.
luckily, fortunately	per fortuna
Luckily I did not have to pay.	Per fortuna non ho dovuto pagare.
I could not come, but luckily it was Saturday.	Non sono potuto venire, ma per fortuna era sabato.
by chance; by any chance	per caso
I saw Maria by chance downtown.	Ho visto Maria per caso in centro.
Have you by any chance seen my keys?	Hai per caso visto le mie chiavi?

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